


Alia Iacta Est

by painted_lady12



Series: Across Time and Space [2]
Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Anal Fingering, Anal Sex, Angst, Angst and Feels, Angst with a Happy Ending, Background Otayuri, Bottom Katsuki Yuuri, Break Up, Character Death, Character's Name Spelled as Viktor, Falling In Love, Family Feels, Grief/Mourning, Ice Skating, M/M, Male Homosexuality, Matchmaking, Minor Character Death, Multiverse, Mythology - Freeform, Porn With Plot, Porn with Feelings, Soulmates, Therapist Yuuri, Top Victor Nikiforov, Trauma, True Love, Viktor is a Doctor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-29
Updated: 2017-10-08
Packaged: 2019-01-06 21:46:42
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,098
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12219567
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/painted_lady12/pseuds/painted_lady12
Summary: It was quiet except the sharp carving sound of metal on ice.  Yuuri leaned forward, and the beams of moonlight that filtered into this odd place out of time and space illuminated a man with long silver hair, stumbling around on the ice.He was beautiful, but not particularly graceful.Yuuri’s voice spoke, and it echoed around the room.  “Who are you?”The silver haired man looked up, trying to catch his balance, and smiled.  “I’m Viktor.”***AU where Yuuri, a therapist in Japan, has a strange dream where he meets a man named Viktor.  After tragedy strikes, he desperately tries to find this man of his dreams, aided by a strange being who seems determined to get them together...This story is both a prequel and a sequel to "Tabula Rasa".  Please read "Tabula Rasa" first, as this work kind of spoils what happens in that one.





	1. Never Looking Back

**Author's Note:**

> Alia Iacta Est- term meaning that the die is cast, or that you are past the point of no return. A set fate of a risky decision
> 
> Hello friends!
> 
> I just want to say how humbled and honored I was to receive such wonderful feedback from all of you regarding "Tabula Rasa". You are all beautiful and perfect and I'm so lucky to have you.
> 
> This story is both a prequel and sequel to "Tabula Rasa", following therapist Yuuri's adventure for the three months before the events of our other story, as well as what happens afterwards. It delves into how the multiverse works, and why the events of "Tabula Rasa" unfolded as they did.
> 
> I hope you enjoy. This story will also be told in three parts.
> 
> As usual, I do not own Yuri! on Ice

When Yuuri sat, twiddling his thumbs in his office, his nerves started to fray.

 

In his therapy practice, it was very rare that a patient would cancel as the appointments were extremely difficult to get.  After sweating it out for ten minutes, he gave up.

 

He got up and checked his email again.  His patient hadn’t cancelled; she just hadn’t shown up.

 

Sighing, Yuuri grabbed his briefcase and left for home.  

 

***

  
  


When Yuuri walked into his apartment, Vicchan bounded up to him, hopping up to get his attention.  

 

“Hey, boy.  You’re a good boy, aren’t you?  Yes you are.”  Yuuri smiled tightly, scooping up his toy poodle and placing his briefcase on the counter, cooing lovingly at his dog.

 

When he checked his voicemail, he had one from Mari.

 

“ _ Hey kid, it’s me.  Mom wants you to come for dinner next week.  Think you could swing it?  Anyway, I hope we’re still on for our vacation to Bangkok together, because I’ve started looking up things to do and it’s going to be a blast.  Get back to me and let me know what dates work for you.  Oh, one last thing.  When are you going to let me meet this boyfriend of yours?  I’ve seen the extra toothbrush at your place.” _

 

Yuuri grumbled, placing Vicchan down and starting dinner.  There were vegetables frying in oil and ginger when his doorbell rang.

 

“One minute!”

 

Yuuri turned the temperature down and got the door, where a tall, handsome man was standing with a knowing smile on his face, holding up a bottle of wine.  “Hope you still like reds?”

 

It was a joke between them.  Yuuri only drank red wine, calling white wine the scourge of this earth.

 

Akio’s long dark hair brushed against Yuuri’s face when they kissed, sweet and slow, before Vicchan started barking that he wasn’t getting enough attention.

 

“One of these days I’ll get you all to myself.  That dog of your takes too much of your attention away from me.”

 

The other man was grinning though, kneeling over and petting Vicchan affectionately.

 

“I just started dinner,” Yuuri said happily, going back over to the stove.  Akio’s fingers brushed against Yuuri’s hips feather-light as he added the noodles to the pan.  

 

“How did I get lucky enough to find someone who can cook?”  Akio teased, nibbling at Yuuri’s earlobe.  Gasping, Yuuri leaned back into the attention, feeling himself start to lose interest in eating dinner at all.

 

“Come on, Akio, food first.  It’ll fuel us for later… activities.”

 

“Hmm,” he agreed, pressing a kiss to Yuuri’s neck and setting the table.

 

Yuuri’s apartment was simple and modern.  It had a bookshelf overflowing with academic books and fantasy novels alike.  There were pictures of his family and friends all over the place.  A new frame was on his coffee table, still with a little blue bow on the corner.  It was framed in silver, of Akio kissing Yuuri in front of fireworks.  One of their friends had snapped it and had gushed over for days before Akio decided to get it framed.

 

The phone started ringing, and Yuuri asked, “Can you get that?”

 

Akio hummed, picking up the phone and eyeing Yuuri with affection.  “Katsuki residence.”

 

There was a pause, where the oil crackled and Yuuri was humming a pop song that he enjoyed listening to, when Akio whispered, “Wait… hold on, here he is.”

 

Yuuri turned around, whispering for Akio to keep an eye on the food, and picked up the phone.

 

“Katsuki speaking.”

 

“I’m sorry to call you at home, Yuuri,” it was one of his colleagues from the office.  “We just got a disturbing call.  I was just checking the voicemails.  I… your patient who didn’t show up today, Rin, she jumped off a building.  She’s dead.”

 

The phone hit the floor, and Yuuri could feel the world spin around him.

 

“Oh,” he said simply, looking at Akio, trying to explain, “I… must have lost my grip.”

 

Akio rushed over after turning off the stove.  “Yuuri, what is it?  Yuuri?”

 

“I… I couldn’t help her…” he said slowly, hands shaking, eyes widening.  Things were becoming clearer and farther away simultaneously, like a camera trying to find it’s focus.  

 

“Couldn’t help who?”

 

Yuuri fell to the ground, knees hitting the tile with a sickening bang.  Akio pulled Yuuri close, whispering soft words into his ear, but Yuuri couldn’t hear them.

 

Yuuri Katsuki had been a therapist for two years.  He was still fresh, and new.  He wasn’t ready for this.

 

Truth be told, is anyone ever ready for this?

 

Akio held him as the world slid in and out of focus.

  
  


***

  
  


It had been three days since Akio last saw his boyfriend.  

 

The tall man hesitated outside Yuuri’s door.  The key that he kept for emergencies was weighing heavily in his pocket, but he didn’t want to have to use it.

 

When he knocked on the door for the fifth time, though, and no one came, he opened it himself.

 

The apartment was ghostly grey.  There were no lights on in the main room, just the natural sunlight fighting it’s way in around the curtains, casting an eerily ethereal glow on the place.  

 

Akio had left Yuuri to go to work the next morning after his patient killed himself.  When Akio had returned to check on him, Yuuri had asked his boyfriend to give him time.

 

In his study, Yuuri was sitting in his pajamas, papers strewn around him and computer open with so many tabs.  Akio stepped delicately over Vicchan, who was lying in front of the door protectively.

 

“Yuuri?”

 

“I asked you to leave me alone.”

 

Akio hesitated.  His boyfriend’s voice sounded dead.  “Honey, I’m worried.  I haven’t heard from you.  Obviously you’re taking this hard.  You had been working with her for a long time.”

 

“I couldn’t save her.  I need to know what I did wrong.”

 

The words punched Akio in the gut.  “Baby, she was ill.  Sometimes you do everything right and mental illness still takes them away.”

 

“No, I need to know.  I can’t help anyone until I know…” Yuuri’s voice trailed off as he flipped some papers over, skimming them carefully.  

 

His hair was a mess.  His eyes were bloodshot.  Akio’s hand shook as he touched the man’s shoulder delicately.

 

Yuuri pulled away sharply, and Akio sighed.

 

“This isn’t healthy, you need to talk to someone.  One of your partners, maybe.  They’ve all been doing this a long time.  I’m sure they’ve gone through the same thing and know how to help you.”

 

“I didn’t ask you to come,” Yuuri hissed, looking up at Akio darkly, stubbornly.  “I’ll figure this out.  You don’t need to worry about me.”

 

“Too late.  I care about you, Yuuri, I might even…”

 

The words got caught in his throat, and Yuuri laughed darkly.

 

“Don’t say words that you know I won’t say back.”

 

Stunned, Akio took a step back.  “Fuck you, Yuuri Katsuki.”

 

“You won’t be doing that anytime soon.  I’m a mess.  I’m in no shape to be dating anyone,” his voice was hollow and wrong-sounding, but Akio couldn’t fight the raw anger that it brought up.

 

As Akio exited the apartment building, he dialed a number, his throat closing with emotion.  “Hi, is this Mari Katsuki?  I was given this number in case of emergency.  Yuuri needs you, and he just dumped me, so there’s not much I can do.  Maybe you can reach him.”

  
  


***

  
  


Yuuri fell asleep in his office, slumped against his chair.

 

His dream was… odd, to say the least.  

 

He stood on the edge of a rink.

 

It was quiet except the sharp carving sound of metal on ice.  Yuuri leaned forward, and the beams of moonlight that filtered into this odd place out of time and space illuminated a man with long silver hair, stumbling around on the ice.

 

He was beautiful, but not particularly graceful.

 

Yuuri’s voice spoke, and it echoed around the room.  “Who are you?”

 

The silver haired man looked up, trying to catch his balance, and smiled.  “I’m Viktor.”

 

The man was speaking English, but he had a clear Russian accent.

 

“Yuuri,” the Japanese man responded, cocking his head to the side.  “Are you a skater?”

 

The other man shook his head, finding his footing and delicately moving towards Yuuri on the ice.  “I just got this feeling before I fell asleep, you know?  Like I needed to do this.”

 

The other man’s smiling face revealed that he did things like this often, based off of whim.  

 

Yuuri couldn’t help but smile, because there was a tug in his gut that was pleasant, a kind of drop before the fall.  

 

Snow started to sprinkle down around them.  

 

“You never remember these dreams, you know,” came a voice, and the two men looked up.  There was a tiny girl with strawberry blonde hair in a gold dress sitting on a landing above them, smiling impishly down and kicking her bare, pale feet in the air.  The snow was falling from where she sat like she herself was a storm.

 

“What do you mean?” Yuuri asked, curiosity piqued.  

 

“It’s a rule,” she said simply, “I never really liked the rules much, though.”

 

“Who are you?” Viktor asked, looking dazed and hypnotized by the girl.

 

“I’m a wraith,” she said calmly, “I’m a spirit that exists outside time and space.  I get to move around the chess pieces.  I have a very special plan for you two.  You’ll see.”

 

Then, she hopped down, dress flying around her like wings as she descended to the ice.  She was much shorter than either of them, and where she stepped the ice illuminated like sunlight.

 

She walked towards the two of them, but they were not afraid.  There was something… calming… about her presence

 

“Rules are for people who are afraid to see what’s outside the box,” she said matter-of-factly, her gold eyes glittering like coins, as she pressed a finger to Yuuri’s head, smiling.  “Go ahead.  Break them all.”

  
  


***

  
  


When Yuuri woke up, he remembered his dream.

 

He started packing immediately.

 

He wasn't sure why, but he knew he needed to find the man with the silver hair.  

 

There were a few voicemails that he deleted.  If someone would have listened to them, they would be Mari calling to ask him if he was okay, and his partners asking when he would be back.

 

He knew he wouldn’t.

 

Not until he found who he was looking for.

 

All he had to go on was Russian and silver hair.  Seems like he should start with Russia.

 

When he got to the onsen, he left Vicchan on the porch where his parents would find him in thirty minutes when they opened the door, with a note

 

_ Don’t worry about me.  I’ll be back after I figure all of this out.  I love you. _

 

Yuuri Katsuki wasn’t spontaneous.  He wasn’t exciting, and he wasn’t big on taking adventures.  

 

Yet here he was, leaving on a moment’s notice.

 

Maybe, just maybe, he was learning to live on a whim.

  
  


***

  
  


St. Petersburg was beautiful in September.  It was wreathed in the golden leaves of the trees, the slight chill in the air just enough to make everything a little crisper and cleaner.

 

It was a fresh change from Japan’s balmy weather this time of year.

 

When Yuuri was buying the ticket, this is where he felt the strongest pull.  He figured that if he was going on a whim, he’d just throw everything to the wind.

  
Now, the situation was starting to crash around him.

 

He was in an unfamiliar city.  He doesn’t speak the language.  The foliage might be nice, but eventually he had to finagle a hotel room or something, otherwise he would be on the street for the night.

 

Frankly, his anxiety was on the fritz, and he’d been wandering around the city for two hours with all of his luggage.

 

It was then that he heard someone speaking English.

 

“No way, Beka, I’d rather throw myself off a cliff than do a program about love.”

 

Perking up, and with his suitcase in hand, he wandered towards the sound.

  
There was a tall, angry Russian man on the phone, his feet kicked up onto the table of the small coffee shop.  The waitress was eyeing him warily.

 

“H-hi,” Yuuri said unsteadily, because he was immediately regretting this.  This kid was clearly bad news.  His eyeliner was sharp and his tone was sharper.  

 

This kid would  _ eviscerate  _ him.

 

“Hold on Beka,” he said hastily, putting his phone down.  “Can I help you?”

 

Yuuri felt his resolve start to crumble and the desire to run got the best of him.  Just as he was about to turn, the guy caught his wrist.

 

“Listen, if you’re going to interrupt me, at least ask for the autograph.”

 

Autograph?

 

Yuuri turned, and looked harder at the man standing in front of him and… his team Russia jacket, his sports bag slung over a chair, his phone that had a cat with ice skates on it…

 

“You skate,” Yuuri said lamely, and the guy sighed.

 

“Okay, yeah, I skate.  I’ve broken the world record a few times, I’m great, blah blah blah.  Just hand me something to sign so I can get back to talking to my boyfriend.”

 

Shakily, Yuuri fumbled around for something, but quickly he stopped, mustering up courage.

 

“I’m not asking for an autograph.  I was wondering if you could help me translate so I can book a hotel room over the phone.”

 

The kid blinked, jade-green eyes shifting from confused to understanding.

 

“Ah.  You don’t speak Russian.”

 

“Yeah…”   
  


“Yeah alright whatever.  Take a seat and I’ll help you when I’m done,” he sat back down and put the phone to his ear, then thought of something else.  “I’m Yuri, by the way.”

 

Yuuri laughed out loud, his nerves making the coincidence seem all the funnier.  “I’m also Yuuri.”

 

The Russian blinked, then finished his conversation with his boyfriend, hanging up and studying Yuuri carefully.

 

“What are you doing here if you don’t speak Russian?  Tourism?”

 

Biting his lip, Yuuri nodded.  “Yeah.  I wanted to see the leaves change.”

 

“Sure,” Yuri rolled his eyes and started clicking around on his phone.  “Looks like the hotel a few streets over has English interpreters available on their website.”

 

Yuuri blinked, but the waitress had come over, still giving Yuri the stink eye.  She asked him a question in Russian, and Yuri answered.  The waitress wrote something down, and Yuuri blanked.

 

“What…”

 

“You seem like a hot chocolate type.”

 

Huh.  He was.

 

They sat there a few more minutes until Yuri asked, “What really brings you to St. Petersburg?”

 

“Honestly?’ Yuuri sat back, staring up at the sky, at the far away blue, so close to the eyes of the man he was searching for…  “I’m chasing a ghost.”

 

Snorting, Yuri took a sip of his own coffee. “What kind of ghost?”   
  


“The type that comes to you in a dream.”

 

Yuri chuckled.  “Of course you’d be crazy.  You seem remotely cool for two seconds so of course you’d be off your rocker.”

 

“I’m not crazy,” Yuuri argued, but his tone was not particularly convincing.  

 

Sighing, Yuuri rubbed his eyes under his glasses.  “Nope, I’m definitely crazy.  I came to St. Petersburg on a whim to find some guy that I’m like 80% sure doesn’t exist.”

 

Yuri cocked his head to the side, studying the other man curiously, his gossamer-thin blonde hair falling in his face.  “What’s their name?”

 

“I think it’s Viktor,” Yuuri said softly, though even then there could be any number of Viktors in this city.  That’s to say if he’s even in this city.

 

Yuri shrugged.  “Nope, doesn’t sound familiar.”

 

They sat there for a while, until Yuuri pulled out his phone to call the hotel and Yuri cut him off.  “Don’t worry.  Just stay with me.”

 

Stunned, Yuuri asked, “Are you sure you aren’t crazy?”

 

The younger man shrugged, taking another sip of the coffee.  “There’s something about you that’s familiar.  I skate like most of the day so I won’t be home, so just crash at my place.  It’ll be like Airbnb.  If you steal any of my shit, though, I’ll find you and slice your throat with my knife shoes.  Got it?”

 

Yuuri nodded, but was completely unsure whether this idea was even a good one.

 

Maybe it was that there was something familiar about Yuri, too.  If it’s their same name, or maybe that they both happened to be in the right place at the right time, but there was something there that they were both unnerved and intrigued by in each other.

 

Fate is funny like that, sometimes.

  
  


***

 

_ Three Months Later _

 

Yuuri Katsuki came home after work and greeted their three cats, and threw a withered look at Yuri. 

 

“Soul mate hunting fail again?”

 

“More like my part time job is keeping me from looking more than a few hours a day.”

 

Yuri shrugged in his leopard-print onesie, continuing to play on his gaming system.  “I have a competition next weekend in Moscow.  Want to come?  It would expand your search to a new city.”

 

Yuuri was at his wit’s end.  He had been scouring St. Petersburg for months, living with Yuri and ignoring any and all calls from his family to contact him.  On the weekends he took the train to other parts of the country, searching with no luck. 

 

Even trying to find him online had proven impossible.  Turns out that the name Viktor is very common in Russia.

 

He'd been living with Yuri during his search.  It was pleasant, living with the angry kid.  He was skating most of the time, and they enjoyed a lot of the same video games and music.  On top of which, when Yuri's boyfriend Otabek came to visit, the three of them got along really well.

 

It was… nice.  Yuuri couldn’t remember the last time he had a friend that he could be this comfortable around.   The closest he ever had was Yuu-chan or his sister.

 

“It can’t hurt anything,  right?”

 

Yuuri had already searched so many other places.  Maybe, just maybe, Moscow would be his answer.


	2. Reaching Out Across the Cosmos

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yuuri continues his search for Viktor in Moscow, where he attends Yuri's skating competition. He's about to give up his search when a friendly stranger gives him a much needed clue...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello all my lovelies.
> 
> There is a slight possibility that I'm working on a third short series in this same vein? IDK this concept can theoretically go on forever, and I have no self control. Do with that information what you will.
> 
> Enter: Brotabek and that smut I didn't include in the last chapter. It's brief but enjoyable. Next chapter has a doozy though, if you're willing to wait!
> 
> Some things I would like to clarify:
> 
> 1) Therapist Yuuri and Dr. Nikiforov are the original Viktor and Yuuri from the universe this story originally takes place in. Skater Yuuri and skater Viktor take over their respective bodies in "Tabula Rasa".
> 
> 2) The wraith concept is original. If you have any questions about them, please field them to me, so I know what I need to make sure to explore in the third chapter. I would hate for confusion to bog down the story.
> 
> 3) All of you are wonderful and perfect and I hope you get to pet many dogs in the next week
> 
> As usual, I do not own Yuri! on Ice, because it would clearly become some convoluted twilight-zone level love story

Yuuri Katsuki was completely out of his depth.

 

Skating was something from his past, and he remembered feeling so anxious during every competition.  His anxiety made him so nervous to the point of feeling ill.  Eventually, he’d had enough of it, and quit. 

 

Now, he was sitting in the stands with Yuri during the first part of the European Championships, and Yuri’s bouncing foot and darting eyes were setting him on edge.

 

“I’m the one who is supposed to be freaking out,” Yuri grumbled as Yuuri bit his fingernails to the quick.  

 

“They’re all so… good…” Yuuri watched as Michele Crispino finished off his routine.

 

“I’m good too, dumbass,” Yuri grumbled.  Otabek returned from the bathroom, looking grim.

 

“Christoff,” Otabek said as explanation, and Yuri rolled his eyes.

 

“Did he grab your ass again?”

 

“No, worse.  He hugged me and told me to wish you luck.  Then he wanted to make small talk.”

 

If Yuuri learned anything about Otabek these last few months, it was that he was a man of few words, even with Yuri.  

 

Eventually, Yuri went down to get ready, and Otabek and Yuuri sat in comfortable silence.

 

“You’ll find him, you know.  The man in your dreams,” Otabek said definitively.  Yuuri glanced over at the quiet man in surprise.

 

“Thanks.”

 

Otabek shrugged, then whispered, “You’re good for Yuri, too.  He’s less prickly now.  I really hope that, even if you find your Viktor, you two will stay friends.”

 

“Of course,” Yuuri whispered, just as Yuri took the ice.

 

His performance was flawless.  Yuri finished with the highest score of anyone there far and beyond by ten points.

  
  


***

  
  


After European Championships, Yuuri Katsuki was walking in Moscow with Yuri Plisetsky.  

 

“Are you sure you want to stay a few more days?”  Yuri poked Yuuri in the arm, scowling at him.

 

“I’m sure.  You’re the European Champion.  Go home and celebrate with Otabek, I’ll be there soon.”

 

They were so involved in their conversation that they completely missed two other people walking home from a long shift.  If they had paused to look, they would have seen a girl with a shock of red hair laughing with her friend, with long silver hair falling around his shoulders like a waterfall.

 

They passed each other in the night, and continued walking away.

  
  


***

  
  


After Yuuri fell asleep in the hotel room that night he was greeted with an empty ice rink.  The impish wraith grinned at him with her golden eyes sparkling.

 

“You were close today,” she said giddily.

 

Yuuri shook his head, exasperated.  “I don’t get it. You told me to break the rules.  I’m trying.  I’ve been searching all over Russia, taking weekend trips everywhere, trying to find this man.  If you want me to find him that bad, just tell me where he is!”

 

“Can’t do that,” she said, and her voice was teasing him, high pitched like the tinkling of bells.  It was also extremely condescending.  “It’s not time, yet.  You’ll find him when you’re supposed to.”

 

“What the hell does that mean?” Yuuri pushed his fingers through his dark hair, frustrated.  “What does any of this mean?”

 

“It means,” she said happily, and in waving her arms a pair of skates appeared on both of her feet.  “We get to play.”

 

She started racing across the ice, leaving golden sparkles in the air in her wake, the ice lighting up from beneath where she went, her strawberry blonde curls whipping around her. 

 

Fingers shaking, Yuuri followed, pushing forward, trying to catch her, but her voice echoed around the rink, taunting him.

 

“Sometimes fate isn’t supposed to bring two people together,” she giggled, and Yuuri groaned.

 

“What do you mean?  He isn’t my soulmate?”

 

Turning around, she skated backwards so she could watch Yuuri gleefully, “Oh, he is, but that’s not how this story ends.”

 

“Stop speaking in riddles and just tell me what I’m supposed to do!”

 

She launched then, into a perfect quad flip, though Yuuri wasn’t sure how he knew that.

 

“There’s this… dilemma I had.  I was given a very specific task when I became a wraith.  I noticed some… odd coincidences in the timeline.  So… I decided to intervene.”

 

Yuuri stopped skating, eyes widening.  “What did you do?”

 

When Yuuri woke up the next day, he didn’t remember any of his dream.

 

He woke up, brushed his teeth, and searched around Moscow.

 

He walked out of a Starbucks as a silver haired man was walking into the adjacent deli.  He sat at a cafe on the other side of the city from someone else doing the exact same thing, by themselves, searching for someone else.

 

The next day, Yuuri boarded a plane.  He took his seat, dejected, in the very back of the plane.

 

The pilot made some announcements about the weather.  As they were starting to move, Yuuri glanced at the phone of the woman sitting next to him.  They were flipping through pictures.

 

“I just was told I’m cancer-free,” the woman said to the curious Japanese man in English, showing him pictures of her going through her healing.

 

They taxied to the runway, and as the plane was picking up speed, she flipped to another photo, of her with her treatment team, and Yuuri stared, in awe.

 

“Who… who is that…” his voice was shaking, his whole body felt electric.

 

“Oh, that’s Dr. Viktor Nikiforov.  He was the emergency room doctor who spotted the cancer.  I owe him my life.”

 

“What hospital?”

 

A few moments later Yuuri was moving to the back of the plane, and the attendant was squealing, “Sir, take your seat!  We’re about to take off.  It’s unsafe…”

 

The plane started ascending, and then there was an awful ripping sound.  The cabin around them sliced open unevenly like a giant had pulled at the two ends of the plane and thrown the leftovers.  The back half collapsed onto the runway and Yuuri, standing, was pulled out with the force of the air currents, landing below onto the pavement, head first…

 

Lying in a crumpled heap on the ground, Yuuri did not see the plane catch fire, or when the engine blew, or when every other passenger died in seconds.

 

Instead, he was having a very funny dream, where the only thing around was his body on the tarmac. No plane. 

 

Just then, just past a haze he saw dozens of confused people milling about.  They looked unbelievably lost.  

 

Then, each person started slowly dissipating in a silver puff of smoke, one by one.

 

Yuuri dreamed that he was standing over his body, and a little girl with strawberry blonde hair and gold coin eyes was leading him away.  

 

“It’s too late, dear.  You can’t go back in him.  Fate had other plans.”

 

“What… what do I do now?” Yuuri whispered, glancing back at his body, crumpled on the ground.

 

“I’m bringing you somewhere to wait.”

 

Yuuri glanced at the people turning into silvery smoke, and longing surged through him.  He started feeling light and airy.  

 

“I want to go…”

 

“Trust me,” she said, “You don't want to leave just yet.”

 

They suddenly moved through the haze, coming out the other side into the rink where he first met the girl and the man he had been searching for.

 

“Wait here.”

 

Yuuri sighed, glancing down and seeing that he had ice skates on.

 

Something was vibrating in his muscles, waiting to be released, and he began.

 

It started with a flourish of his arms, and soon he was moving through a routine.  He hadn't skated since he was younger, and he barely remembered, and yet he was moving so succinctly.

 

Music started dancing through the air seemingly from nowhere, an Italian man lamenting, and he felt… like he needed something, just out of reach.  He launched into the jumps, but he wasn't sure  _ how  _ exactly as he had never landed more than a double and he was spinning through quadruple flips.

 

When he finished, his hand was reaching out, and standing there, looking taken aback, was none other than…

 

“Viktor,” Yuuri said breathlessly, the air vibrating in the silence.

 

The man’s long silver hair fell down his face and obscured his bright blue eyes, and he brushed it back.

 

“How did I get here?”  The Russian was looking around, confused.   “Last thing I remember is waking up next to you…”

 

“Oh,” Yuuri responded, surprised.  “I… we’ve never met in person.”

 

Viktor’s face went from confusion to dawning. “Are you, by chance, a therapist?”

 

The Japanese man blinked as snow started to sprinkle down between them.  “I haven't been in a while.”

 

“It’s nice to meet you,” Viktor beamed warmly, “I’m Dr. Nikiforov.”

  
  


***

  
  


It took a long time for them to piece together their memories.  When they returned to the rink, they quickly remembered their past meetings there. 

 

The wraith had brought them together for countless meetings in their dreams.  Most of them had been the two of them fumbling around on the ice, and on more than one occasion…

 

...these meetings involved fumbling around somewhere else...

 

Viktor gasped as Yuuri bit his neck.  “You like it rough,” was all Viktor said.

 

“We’ve done this before,” Yuuri teased, licking down Viktor’s chest, “You know just how I like it.”

 

Smiling, Viktor propped himself up on the bed.  Their little place out of space and time had two components: An ice rink, and if you exited the one door, a small apartment with all amenities that they would ever need, and an endless supply of television shows.

 

They hadn’t gotten around to watching many of those yet, as they were still too busy finding every available surface to fuck each other on.

 

It wasn’t uncommon for them to spend hours doing this.  They never got thirsty, and never got hungry.  All the food was decorative or eaten out of habit, but didn’t fill them.

 

Yuuri took Viktor into his mouth, bobbing and sucking at his cock lovingly as Viktor sighed and tried his best to stay still.  This Yuuri was rougher than the skater Yuuri; therapist Yuuri liked his sex with hot wax and biting.

 

Speaking of, Yuuri slid his teeth along the head of Viktor’s cock, making him see stars.

 

“Shit, Yuuri,” Viktor gasped, fingers tangling into the man’s black hair.

 

Eventually Yuuri came back up, sliding his cock against Viktor’s deliciously, and soon they were rutting against each other, fingers scraping each other’s backs, looking for release from the stimulation.

 

At some point, Yuuri slipped some fingers into Viktor, who felt the intrusion arouse him further, and when he orgasmed, he tightened around the fingers, making him see stars. 

 

They fell against each other, covered in bodily fluids and sweat, and Yuuri got to work licking up the mess between them lewdly, humming his delight at the taste.

 

“This might be the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen you do,” Viktor growled, gasping as Yuuri bit his nipple playfully, “and I’ve seen you do a lot.”

 

Once their memories returned, they fell into step like they’d known each other their whole lives.  There were odd facts about each other that they just  _ knew _ , and there were so many days that they just sat together, talking about all they had done.

 

All in all, death wasn’t turning out to be all that terrible.

 

It was, however, lonely.  Even with each other, they missed their loved ones.  Every time Yuuri went to call Mari or his parents to tell them about Viktor, or every time Viktor went to leave for his shift at the hospital, they would stop and realize that those things would never happen again.

 

It left them with pits in their stomach.

 

Time didn’t move linearly there.  Some days they would have different books on their bookshelves, or the furniture would change from an early 2000s blocky neon arrangement to a parlor-looking scene from the 1800s.  Yuuri and Viktor spent a lot of time cataloging everything so that they could see when they changed.

 

One day, after the fifteenth furniture change, Yuuri and Viktor were watching the eighth season of Game of Thrones and paused when there was a knock at their door.

 

Viktor and him glanced at each other, aghast, before Vikor shakily got up and pulled open the door.

 

The wraith was standing there, eyes reflecting oddly in the light.  She looked particularly cheery, and her curly hair fell around her golden dress with gold jewels embedded in the strands.

 

“Enjoying time here?” she asked, skipping inside.  Yuuri stood up, a little confused.

 

“I thought that you weren’t coming back,” Yuuri said hastily, and she just laughed, a bright, chirping sound not unlike a baby chick.

 

“I’m responsible for you two.  My bosses need me to check in on you.”

 

The two of them just stared at her, at a loss.

 

“Who are your bosses, anyway?” Yuuri asked, narrowing his eyes at her.

 

Her usually twinkling eyes dulled a little, tarnished.  “They are scary.  They’ve asked me to come talk to you about an exciting opportunity.”

 

Viktor and Yuuri raised their eyebrows, and Viktor found himself floating over to Yuuri, clutching his hand tightly.

 

“We need you to make yourselves fall in love.”

  
  


***

  
  


Viktor and Yuuri were sitting at an empty table of a restaurant, watching themselves have the worst first date of a lifetime.

 

The wraith was perched on the table, swinging her bare feet and watching the alternate versions of Viktor and Yuuri with interest.

 

“So what are we doing here again?” Yuuri asked, and Viktor just glared at him

 

“We’re reaching across time and space to make ourselves fall in love in every universe.  Weren’t you listening?  I think it’s awfully romantic,” Viktor said as an aside to the wraith, who grinned from ear to ear.

 

“Glad you think so.  They’re moving me onto a new objective, so you two will be taking over for me.”

 

Yuuri straightened out his bowtie uncomfortably, eyeing his formal ensemble.  “Why are we dressed up if no one can see us?”

 

Viktor blanched in his navy suit and skinny grey tie.  “Obviously because it’s date night!”

 

Blushing, Yuuri rolled his eyes.  “I’d rather be naked with you, honestly.”

 

The older man pointed at Yuuri, eyes narrowed.  “Sometimes I’m worried that you’re only in it for the sex, Yuuri.”

 

The Japanese man smile then, his hand reaching for Viktor’s on the table.  “I didn’t travel time and space to get to you just so we could have sex.  I came because we were meant to be together.”

 

Viktor got this look on his face that was a cross between infatuation and disbelief.

 

“Isn’t he so cute, little girl?”

 

“Are you two paying attention at all?” she snapped, pointing at…

 

Viktor and Yuuri having a date in the real world.

 

“This is the universe where they met at a convention for dog show owners, right?”

 

The wraith nodded as dog show Viktor continued to stare blankly at dog show Yuuri, who was explaining in detail the proper way to clean a hot spring tub.

 

“...so, then, after the whole thing has been properly bleached…”

 

Dog show Viktor yawned, cutting his Yuuri off.  “You… seem nervous.”

 

The younger man blinked.  This Yuuri’s hair was long, to his shoulders, and wore round rimmed glasses.  This Viktor’s hair was crew-cut and he had an earring.

 

They were both competing championship dog showmen.

 

Dog show Yuuri fiddled with his napkin.

 

“I… I don’t go out with people much.  My career with Vicchan has kept me so busy…”

 

“Hey,” dog show Viktor reached out, brushing his thumb reassuringly on Yuuri’s knuckles, “Don’t try to prove anything or force anything.  Just be yourself.”

 

“Right,” dog show Yuuri chuckled nervously, eyes darting around.

 

Therapist Yuuri winced.  “This hurts to watch.”

 

“Aw, I think this you is cute, Yuuri!  I like the hair,” Dr. Nikiforov ran his own locks through his fingers delicately.

 

The date continued… to become a decadent disaster

 

Therapist Yuuri grumbled, “I’m still not sure what we’re supposed to do, exactly.”

 

The wraith watched the two alternate versions stumble through the first date, the candlelight from their table flickering over their faces and throwing light against their blushes, setting an odd contrast.  They accidentally starting to talk at the same time.  Dog show Yuuri spilled his water twice. Dog show Viktor almost choked on a shrimp.

 

“Darling, promise me that we were never that awkward,” Dr. Nikiforov whined, looking at his Yuuri with wide eyes.

 

“Nope.  Definitely always as suave and smooth as we are now.”

 

They high-fived to the wraith’s chagrin.

 

“Anyway, there’s only one place that wraiths can reach people in the real world.  That’s…”

 

“In their dreams,” Viktor finished for her.

 

“Right.  I’m still confused why we’re doing this,” Yuuri admitted, watching the wraith skeptically.  

 

“Wraiths are in charge of keeping the multiverse from falling apart.  We create unifying points in every iteration of reality, that work as these kind of linchpins.  Bill Gates always makes computers.  Cave men always discover fire in the same place.  A specific bridge in Germany is never torn down.  A few select couples that are always together, across almost every plane of existence…”

 

They were eyeing the two dog show versions of themselves as they awkwardly hugged.  The two men both moved in as if they were thinking about kissing, and then instead bumped cheeks against each other.

 

“Are you saying that making us fall in love is vital to maintaining the very fabric of reality?”  Viktor was gaping at the wraith, and Yuuri was blinking in shock.

 

“That’s the gist of it, yeah.  I’m in charge of making sure it happens.  However, we’re handing off the job to you two.  You are both probably a little more qualified at making each other fall in love.”

 

Dog show Yuuri tripped over dog show Viktor’s foot, and they both went tumbling down to the ground, blushing bright red.

 

“I think that I’ve lost my faith in us,” therapist Yuuri said miserably.  “How are we supposed to get that together?”

 

The wraith glared.  “Split up.”

 

Viktor jumped up.  “I call Yuuri!”

 

The other man’s eyes widened.  “Fine, then, I’ll go with short-hair you.”

 

The two of them split up, heading to the appropriate places.

 

Viktor and Yuuri weren’t exactly sure about all the details, but one thing was clear: they belonged together, in every universe.  They wanted to make sure that they could make themselves fall in love, just as they had fallen in love.

  
They just had to figure out  _ how _ .

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> They somehow turned into ghost cupids and I'm not sorry.
> 
> Yell at me in the comments if there is a specific theoretical AU version of Viktor and Yuuri you want to see get together. Maybe I'll write a one-off about them!
> 
> Next time: Viktor and Yuuri play cupid, and start to get suspicious about the circumstances of their deaths and their mysterious matchmaker


	3. You Will Never Be Alone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Viktor and Yuuri try to figure out the identity of their golden helper, as a new danger presents itself to the couple

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alrighty, so I wrote this chapter, for the most part, first. 
> 
> Important note:  
> It gets a little confusing in the scenes where Viktor and Yuuri are observing other Yuuris and Viktors. I tried to keep labels very clear, but for the sake of simplicity, if there is no "label" next to Viktor or Yuuri, it is referencing Dr. Nikiforov and therapist Yuuri. 
> 
> You guys are awesome. I have a concept and outline for a part three, but I want to know how you guys react to this part, first. I hope that you guys enjoy. Feedback is always appreciated:)

Yuuri and Viktor collapsed on their couch later that evening.  The two of them had travelled into the dreams of the dog show versions of them and had manipulated certain details.  They’d made them dream of each other tangled in the sheets, having a nice breakfast, bonding over their shared taste in music…

 

It was all rather exhausting.  

 

Viktor sighed.  “Falling in love is hard.  How do we know if it worked?”

 

The wraith, who was playing with an apple, bit into it, the crunch oddly realistic despite the fact that none of them actually could eat anything.  

 

She smiled as the taste spilled over her tongue.  “It worked.  I got the okay from upstairs.  The next one is a little bit more familiar.”

 

They all suddenly appeared in an arena.

 

Dr. Nikiforov and Yuuri stared at themselves being awarded medals down on the ice.

 

The two spirits found themselves suddenly alone.

 

The wraith had invited herself down to skate on the ice below, smiling giddily at the freedom, the ice glowing behind her like a neon sign of where she’d been.

 

“Silver Medalist Viktor Nikiforov,” the announcer placed the silver medal on Viktor, the figure skater.  

 

“Gold Medalist Yuuri Katsuki.”

 

This Yuuri had his hair slicked back, and there were tears flowing down his face, his eyes bloodshot.  

 

The wraith suddenly appeared behind her companions again,  her gold coin eyes glittering with interest.  “This is a reality that is similar to where your doppelgangers that took over your bodies are from.  Except,  in this one they remained competitors because Yuuri never made the Stay Close to Me video.”

 

Therapist Yuuri and Dr. Nikiforov stared at her like she was speaking another language, and she rolled her eyes.

 

“Yuuri crawled back on his own and managed to convince Minako to coach him.  They worked hard and he came back after two years and dominated competition.”

 

Viktor and Yuuri watched themselves shake hands, smiling politely at each other.

 

“This Yuuri still has a major crush on Viktor, so it’s not him I’m worried about.  However, in this reality, Viktor thinks that Yuuri stood him up after the banquet.”

 

The two other spirits continued to stare blankly at her.

 

“Just… fine.  Okay, the more realities you visit, the easier it is to piece together where the lines are between them.  It’s like… a huge, never-ending spectrum of Viktuuri.”

 

“Viktuuri?” Yuuri asked, eyes wide.

 

Viktor gasped, eyes sparkling.  “That’s our ship name!  Oh, that’s the cutest…”

 

However, while Viktor was preoccupied, Yuuri was watching the wraith, eyes narrowed.  

 

“What’s your name, anyway?”

 

She threw him a side-eye worthy of the spectral being she was.  “A wraith doesn’t give away their name.  It gives the person power over who they were in life.”

 

“So you were someone, somewhere?  You became a wraith after dying?”

 

Standing up suddenly, her gold eyes looked off into the distance.  “Fuck you, Yuuri Katsuki.”

 

They all appeared back in their little apartment out of time and space, and she disappeared immediately in a puff of gold glitter.

 

Yuuri brushed off the glitter as best as he could.  “She needs to start paying for dry cleaning.”

 

Laughing, Viktor kissed Yuuri on the cheek.  “All of our clothes wash themselves, dear, remember?  It’s a part of our magical apartment.”

  


***

 

 

Therapist Yuuri Katsuki was very good at reading people.

 

He had to be, for his job.  There were things about people that you started to pick up on, over time.  Habits, tones, moods.  He had spent enough time with the wraith to know that something was amiss.

 

“Are you sure that you aren’t just generally suspicious?  She is the only other person we get to talk to.  It would be a shame if she never came back…”

 

Glaring at Viktor over his dinner, Yuuri grumbled, “I know something is off.  We’re missing a puzzle piece.  Something… something is… familiar about her.”

 

Familiar, like Yuri had been familiar.  

 

Familiar, like Yuri, who Yuuri now remembers was a figure skater in his world, who he must know in countless other alternate universes…

 

“Oh,” Yuuri dropped his fork into his food, and the meatloaf glitched out of existence and off his plate.  “I… we know her.”

 

Viktor peered at Yuuri thoughtfully.  “You felt it too?”

 

It was why they trusted her instantaneously.  It was why they never questioned why her job was to get together all of the Viktuuri couples of every reality.

 

For her, it was personal.

 

“How does she do the thing, anyway,” Yuuri stood up, snapping his fingers, tapping his foot, whispering some words, and Viktor stood up with him.  

 

“What thing?”

 

“How does she appear in other realities?  Is it like a teleportation thing?  Is there a key word?  Is…”

 

Viktor eyed Yuuri thoughtfully, then carefully picked the gold dust out of Yuuri’s shirt and threw it up in the air above them.

 

“Back to our reality!” Viktor asserted confidently, and surprisingly enough, they did appear in their reality.

 

They knew because they were in Viktor’s apartment in Moscow, where skater Yuuri was bobbing over skater Viktor’s crotch.

 

“This is… strangely erotic…” Yuuri pondered, rounding to the other side of the couch.

 

“Do you ever hate them?”

 

Yuuri looked up at Viktor, eyes sad.  “Sometimes.  It’s like the wraith said, though, we were always going to die.  She just took advantage of the coincidence.”

 

Viktor was eyeing himself, face full of contempt.  For a moment, Yuuri was sure he could see Viktor’s eyes darken to black, but it was gone in a blink.  He must have been mistaken.

 

“I mean,” Yuuri reasoned, rounding the couch, “You also were with this Yuuri for a while.  Is that what’s bothering you?  Am I not as good as him?”

 

The fear in Yuuri’s eyes was legitimate, enough so that Viktor brought him in for a searing kiss.  

 

“No,” Viktor asserted firmly (just as his alternate self finished off in a shout), “I feel it when I’m with you.  It’s like I’m coming home.”

 

They pressed their foreheads together and then kissed passionately, just as skater Yuuri collapsed onto the couch next to skater Viktor.  

 

Skater Viktor was grinning stupidly, and said, “Yuuri, I think I fell in love with you again.”

 

Skater Yuuri blushed, mumbling, “You’re such a dork.”

 

“I’m your dork,” skater Viktor argued, and the two of them fell asleep like that, adorably.

 

“So, what are we doing here again?” Yuuri asked, but Viktor was already pacing the apartment, looking around for clues.  

 

Viktor tried to pick up a photo album, but his hands went through it.  

 

Yuuri remembered then.  “Oh, right.  We’re trying to figure out who the wraith is.”

 

After a few hours of searching, something dawned on the two of them.  

 

They’d stranded themselves in their alternate reality, without telling the wraith where they were going, and they had no means of getting back.

 

“Well, we should get comfortable,” Viktor said suddenly, eyeing skater Viktor with disdain again.  “Looks like we’re stuck here until she realizes that we’re missing.”

  


***

  


The two skater versions of themselves (occupying their bodies, which was still extremely jarring and confusing) were out to lunch.  They’d moved into a small house just outside of Moscow, and were in the city that day for a very special occasion.

 

“The Rostelecom Cup,” Dr. Nikiforov was looking over the shoulder of skater Viktor, who had a newspaper open to the standings of everyone going into the event, “Part of the Grand Prix Series.”

 

Yuuri nodded, sitting on the unoccupied table, kicking his legs out in boredom.  

 

The two of them had found an adorable Italian restaurant that was mostly empty because the weather was particularly bad that afternoon.

 

Viktor suddenly felt a hand on his as his Yuuri approached him.  He was taken by surprise when his Yuuri kissed him, passionately.

 

“Yuuri, what are you…”

 

“Come on,” Yuuri chided, running his fingers sensually down Viktor’s chest, “We’ve been following them around for weeks in the real world, where no one can see us, and you haven’t imagined all the naughty things we could do here?”

 

Viktor blushed suddenly.  “That’s so… wow, Yuuri,” he kissed Yuuri again, this time pushing him to sit back onto the table.  The table didn’t move at all with the force, probably because the people on it weren’t really there.

 

Viktor kissed down Yuuri’s left arm, then took each of his fingers in turn into his mouth, sucking mutinously slowly on the digits, until Yuuri was hissing underneath him.

 

The Russian felt odd about getting completely naked when their doppelgangers were having lunch only twenty feet away, so he just shimmied both of their pants down just enough for their purposes.

 

An odd thing about their theoretical purgatory was the unlimited supply of basically anything they wanted.  

 

Including lube.

 

Yuuri pulled a small travel bottle from his front pocket, and Viktor chuckled.  “You never leave the place without it, do you?”

 

“Sex can happen anywhere, Viktor,” Yuuri replied, chocolate eyes twinkling dangerously.  “Always be prepared.”

 

Flipping Yuuri and bending him over the table, Viktor squirted some of the lube on his fingers and pressed the members in, making Yuuri push back against the intrusion, gasping in ecstasy.

 

The waiter had just asked their doppelgangers if they wanted dessert.  Skater Viktor ordered a chocolate mousse.

 

Viktor stretched Yuuri out quickly.  There was something rushed about the feeling of being in public, even though no one could see them.

 

“Imagine if they could see us right now, Viktor,” Yuuri gasped, as Viktor added a third finger and started scissoring, “It would be such a turn-on for them, seeing us make love the way we do…”

 

Viktor couldn’t wait anymore.  He really hoped he prepared Yuuri enough.

 

As the head of his cock pushed past Yuuri’s rim, Yuuri choked out at the sensation.  “God, Viktor, you feel so big…”

 

“I couldn’t wait any longer.  You were too horny,” Viktor purred as the explosion of sensation washed over him, “You were practically a slut, begging for me.”

 

Yuuri laughed, shifting his weight to forcibly take more of Viktor in, crying out, “Like you could say no to me…”

 

“You’re right,” Viktor gasped, bottoming out in Yuuri and taking a moment to revel in the sensation.  “You’re a slut for my cock, Yuuri…”

 

He snapped his hips forward, making Yuuri practically scream out in pleasure.

 

“... you can’t deny how much you want me but I can’t deny how much I want you.  We’re made for each other…”

 

Viktor snapped into Yuuri roughly, making Yuuri whimper and lean back, taking Viktor deeper.  They were getting tunnel vision, barely able to take in any of what was going on around them...

 

...the skaters had asked for the check.  The other couple in the restaurant was trying to shush their child.  The waiter was texting his weed dealer under the table...

 

...Viktor reached out and took Yuuri’s hand and clutched it tightly as he came, then stroked Yuuri through to his own orgasm, going soft inside his lover.

 

When Viktor pulled out and they both pulled up their pants, his whole body felt like it was buzzing.

 

“That was one of the sexiest things I’ve ever done,” Viktor gushed, pressing a kiss to Yuuri’s temple, who was blushing and smiling at their little secret.

 

When their doppelgangers left the restaurant, they felt the cosmic pull to follow them, and the four of them walked out into the street, hands clutched together and swinging between them.

 

***

  


When the four of them settled into their seats in the stands, skater Yuuri and Viktor were watching the warm-ups below, looking a little lost.

 

“It’s going to be strange, seeing them compete,” skater Yuuri admitted, shivering in the cold air.

 

“I don’t see why we can’t say hello,” skater Viktor lamented, and his Yuuri huffed.

 

“It’ll just hurt too much, Viktor.  They won’t know us.  They aren’t our friends.  They’re strangers.”

 

Dr. Nikiforov and his Yuuri had been listening in to their doppelgangers doing research on this cup and the competitors.  They included Yuri Plisetsky, Guang Hong Ji, Georgi Popovich, Emil Nekola, Phichit Chulanont, and Jean-Jacques Leroy.

 

The two of them watched on as the first competitor was up.  

 

The announcer’s voice rang above them.  “ _Yuri Plisetsky, Russia’s own Ice Tiger and two-time Senior Grand Prix Final champion takes the ice first_ . _What are we thinking, Tom?”_

 

_“Yuri is the favorite to win this year.  He came off hot from last January’s win at the European Championships, and a gold medal win in Skate America.”_

 

_“His theme is Persistence.  How has he shown this theme, Tom?”_

 

_“His hurried step sequences and soaring jumps have made it look like he’s becoming more and more talented just throughout his performance.  It’s really something to behold.”_

 

The music began, a hurried violin, and Yuri started rushing through a step sequence, fire in his eyes, hair tied back into a ponytail.

 

Therapist Yuuri nudged his Viktor.  “That’s the one I lived with.”

 

Whistling, Dr. Nikiforov was captivated.  “He’s talented.  His performance looks so mesmerizing…”

 

They watched the performance continue under them, heavy brass starting to rush into the scene.  Yuri launched into a quad flip then, and skater Viktor stood up, mouth falling open.

 

“ _That was Yuri Plisetsky’s signature move, the quadruple flip…”_

 

Skater Yuuri clutched skater Viktor’s hand supportively.

 

When the routine came to a close, Yuri waved at the crowd, looking up at the people excitedly, until his eyes rested firmly on skater Yuuri.

 

His eyes widened.

 

“He’s… looking at us…” skater Yuuri whispered as the crowd continued to cheer and Yuri made his way over to the kiss and cry, looking murderous.

 

Yuri got his scores from his short program.  A 103.57, putting him firmly in first place.

 

The next performance began, Guang Hong Ji performing his short program.  Skater Yuuri and skater Viktor watched with rapt attention.

 

“He’s gotten more daring,” skater Yuuri whispered as the skater launched into a quadruple salchow.

 

Partway through the program, Dr. Nikiforov got quite a surprise as someone stepped _through him_ and proceeded to whack skater Yuuri on the back of the head.

 

“What the…” skater Viktor glanced back to see a tall Russian boy with blonde hair, face alight with fury.

 

“You idiot… you found him?” Yuri gasped, looking at skater Viktor with wide eyes.  

 

Skater Yuuri blinked a few times.  “Do we know each other?”

 

Therapist Yuuri was circling the three of them, in a daze, eyeing the confused doppelgangers.  He whispered, “this Yuuri wouldn’t remember living with Yuri.  I did…”

 

“You can’t just disappear for almost a year and show up at one of my competitions.  I thought you were dead or something,” Yuri’s voice was shaking, “Where have you been?”

 

Skater Yuuri was blinking stupidly.  “I… I don’t remember what you’re talking about.  I was in a serious accident, my memories are hazy…”

 

It was the excuse that the two skaters used when people from their alternate selves past came around asking questions.  Skater Viktor was staring at Yuri in awe.

 

“We lived together, dufus, because you were looking for a Russian Viktor with silver hair.  Is this him?” Yuri flicked his thumb over at skater Viktor.

 

Nodding, skater Yuuri whispered, “Yeah.  This is my husband, Viktor Nikiforov.”

 

Yuri choked on air.  “Wow, you two losers didn’t waste any time…”

 

Yuri’s phone started ringing, and he picked it up, eyeing the caller ID with trepidation.  “I have to go do interviews.  You don’t leave without giving me a way to contact you.  I want to hear you beg for forgiveness for thinking you could just up and vanish.”

 

The angry blonde stormed off, and therapist Yuuri was watching him go, tears in his eyes.  Dr. Nikiforov gently touched his lover’s arm and pulled him in for a hug.

 

“I’m… he doesn’t know I’m dead…” Yuuri stared after Yuri with sparkling tears in his eyes.  “He thinks… no one knows I’m really dead… they just think I have a memory problem…”

 

It hadn’t occurred to him until then, but his family, his friends… no one knew that he was gone, forever.

 

For the first time since dying, Yuuri found himself hating the two skaters inhabiting their bodies.

 

“I want to kill them,” Yuuri seethed, and Viktor watched with wide eyes as a dark aura started emitting from his Yuuri.

 

“Darling, something’s…”

 

They blipped out of existence momentarily, until they were in their private ice rink again, the wraith girl watching them with anger.

 

“You two aren’t official wraiths yet.  You can’t just hop into other universes.  What if you damaged the timeline?”

 

“It’s not like we can do anything!” Yuuri shouted, the dark aura around him growing like a shadow.  “We’re fucking _dead_.”

 

The wraith crinkled her nose in distaste.  “Calm down, Yuuri.”

 

“Why would I?” Yuuri seethed, throwing his hands up in the air and making it sparkle with black dust.  “They stole our lives.  Why did we have to die?  Why do they get to live?  What’s so special about them…”

 

“Viktor,” the wraith whispered, gold eyes glittering dangerously, “If Yuuri doesn’t calm down, he’s going to become a phantom.”

 

“A what?”

 

“A phantom.  A wraith travels through time and creates unifying points in the timeline to keep the multiverse in check.  They work to keep a few specific details the same…”

 

Viktor blinked as Yuuri continued breathing heavily, brown eyes darkening from brown to black…

 

"Wraiths create unifying points to keep the multiverse together.  Phantoms find weak points in the multiverse and tear at them until entire planes of existence unravel.  Whole universes gone in the blink of an eye.  Billions of people who cease to exist.”

 

Viktor looked at Yuuri, who was emitting a black substance all around him, like he had charcoal wings.  Viktor’s cerulean eyes stared hopefully at Yuuri.  “Love, please calm down.  Let’s talk about this…”

 

“No!” Yuuri stomped on the ice, sending a wave of shadow through the clear surface, “You stole so much from us,” Yuuri started moving towards the wraith, whose eyes widened into saucers, standing her ground, gold hair twinkling against Yuuri’s rapidly darkening aura.

 

The wraith stood there, all gold and glitter, next to Yuuri, who was sucking the light out of the very air around him.

 

“Who the hell are you?  Don’t answer in riddles.  Tell me now.  I need to know why you did this to them.  Why did you let them steal our lives?”

 

“I had to,” she said calmly, and Viktor realized that she was not afraid; instead she looked unbelievably sad.  “I’ve been a wraith for the equivalent of a thousand years.  I’ve spent that time getting thousands upon thousands of iterations of you two together.  There are very few unifying points in all of your many existences.  In most of them, you are skaters.  In most of them, you are men.  Also, in most of them, you adopt a girl named Ava.”

 

It was like the darkness around Yuuri shriveled up and fell like ash onto the ice.  His dark eyes turned chocolate brown again, fingers shaking as he whispered, “are you…?”

 

“I was born in a world where Viktor and Yuuri died as children.  I was born to a crack addict mother who didn’t put me up for adoption.  My father abandoned us after I turned seven.  I died of an overdose at seventeen.”

 

Viktor wandered over to stand in front of the wraith, who was quickly losing her ethereal glow and becoming… a shaking girl with strawberry blonde hair and bright eyes sparkling with tears.

 

“A wraith found me after I died and asked me if I wanted to help alternate versions of myself find my parents.  First, however, I had to make my parents fall in love.”

 

Yuuri reached out and delicately touched the girl’s tear-stained cheek.  The air above them started sprinkling down snow, fresh and powdery, as he whispered, “Ava?”

  


***

  


Ava Katsuki-Nikiforov was learning how to walk.

 

A girl with glittering gold eyes was watching herself waddle over to the doting parents, who were videotaping the sight.  Skater Yuuri and Viktor were cooing over the little girl, encouraging her to keep walking.

 

They were the most embarrassing parents in the world.

 

“I knew you’d be here,” an echoing voice came behind her.

 

A wraith came up next to her suddenly, with similar gold eyes but a shock of raven-black hair.  Other than the peculiar eyes, he looked eerily similar to the Yuuri that was currently calling Ava’s name.

 

Curiously enough, baby Ava had gotten distracted looking behind her parents, towards the two wraiths standing there, and fell back onto her butt, mesmerized.  

 

Skater Viktor’s mouth opened into the shape of a heart, scooping his daughter up.  “Oh, you are too precious!  Yuuri, why can’t we just carry her everywhere forever?”

 

“That would be ridiculous,” skater Yuuri laughed, pressing a kiss to Ava’s head.  “Put her down.  Let’s try again.”

 

“You’re the reason that she has parents, you know,” the older wraith whispered, touching her shoulder gently.  

 

Biting her lip, she pulled away from the touch.

 

The wraiths suddenly disappeared from the living room and appeared in a large skating rink, where thousands upon thousands of gold lights were floating around, some closer to each other, some farther, all of them with movement inside of them like screens, of different iterations of Yuuri and Viktor together.

 

Ava released the gold orb she had just traveled from, and it settled into its place in the room, far above her head.  

 

The gold glittering down from around her was dusting the ice, making it glow beautifully in the dark room.

 

“I thought you were assigned to prevent World War Three?  That seems like a much bigger deal than this.  Viktor and I have our ever-present love lives covered.”

 

Ava waved her hand and a pair of skates appeared on her feet.  Yuuri did the same, and soon they were skating around the room and between the glowing gold orbs, watching the many worlds pass them by silently in the dark room.

 

“You haven’t answered me.”

 

Ava sighed, stopping her skating and looking up at the gold orb directly above her head.

 

“This is the world I’m from.”

 

Yuuri pointed at the orb, and it floated down to hover between them, illuminating their faces.

 

“You and Viktor both die before you can meet.  I die.  This world has to remain the same, because it’s the world where I’m from.  This and your world are the only two in this room that we can’t travel back and fix things in.  Otherwise we, as wraiths, cease to exist.”

 

Yuuri was watching Ava carefully, but she looked spellbound.  

 

“I imagine doing it, sometimes.  Going back and stopping you two from dying, by somehow warning you of the impending disaster.  Guiding the right people to getting me adopted.  Then I would grow up with my real parents. You are the two people in the world who I’ve watched love me unconditionally in thousands of universes but my own.  I’ve never felt it myself.”

 

Suddenly, without warning, Yuuri released the orb back into the air and rushed forward, pulling Ava into a tight hug.

 

“You already are loved by us, Ava.”

 

Viktor had appeared in the room, and skated up to them excitedly, gold eyes twinkling with excitement.  “Yuuri!  I found a universe where everyone talks backwards!  You have a man bun!”

 

Catching sight of Yuuri clutching a crying Ava to him, he smiled fondly, coming up and wrapping them in his arms.

 

“You may not have been loved by us then,” Yuuri whispered, fingers running through her curly hair soothingly, “But we love you now.  You will never be alone.”

 

Shaking like a leaf, she sobbed openly now, and the tiny, accidental family held each other close under the infinity of floating, golden lights.  

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think it's so important that we recognize that "true love" and "soul mates" doesn't always refer to romantic love. It can refer to someone you're meant to be best friends with, or maybe a young girl who you're supposed to be the parents of. Ava's real parents, across every universe, are the two fathers that adopted her. 
> 
> So, yeah. 
> 
> My favorite part to write was the part where Ava was describing the alternate universe, and Dr. Nikiforov and therapist Yuuri are just completely clueless because they know only a limited amount about their skating doppelgangers
> 
> The idea for the possible next part would follow Ava's story and how she came to be a wraith. Let me know in the comments if you're interested.
> 
> If not, it's been a pleasure<3 If you like this fic, check out my other YOI fics! There are a few, now.

**Author's Note:**

> This story will also be told in three parts. I've written most of it, but still have a lot of editing to do. Stay tuned for updates


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